It's a Tuesday in the Mall at Shelter Cove. Those who had heard about the mall's recent hardships in the media and from general small-town scuttlebutt would expect to enter the mall and find vacant storefronts yawning wide, ghosts of a once-bustling mall.

The reports of the Mall at Shelter Cove's death, to paraphrase Mark Twain, have been greatly exaggerated.

True, the mall is hardly bustling, but here and there, pockets of shoppers traverse the tile court at the center of the mall. Parents in playgroups try to maintain conversations over the chorus of squeals coming from the soft foam kid's area. There is life in the mall after all. Not bad for a Tuesday afternoon.

If there is a new vitality in the mall, it's not hard to see why.

"We are very pleased to have the six Tanger stores located here temporarily. Sales for the mall have seen an increase since the beginning of the year as shoppers are getting out and spending, tourism is up this year and the new Tanger stores have brought us shoppers that might not normally make it to the island so we see this as a win-win for everyone," said mall General Manager Roni Allbritton.

Since last spring, Tanger Outlet Center 1 in Bluffton has been under renovation, a makeover that will give a fresh face to the nearly 30-year-old center. And while the first steel frames are finally coming up, the stores that used to call the center home have found new homes around the Lowcountry.

Six of them, Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, Kitchen Collection, Lane Bryant, The Children's Place and Oops! Outlet, crossed the bridge to the Mall at Shelter Cove. And while the mall has given these stores a place to hang their shingle while they wait for Tanger's re-opening, reactions are split to the new digs.

"We don't like the commute," said Brooks Brother's manager Jeanette Campbell. Campbell, of Bluffton, was one of four employees there Tuesday. Folding shirts and rearranging products, they awaited the next customer during a long stretch of quiet.

"Some people don't even realize we've moved in here," added Campbell. "One lady yesterday thought she was in Ann Taylor."

True, the drive out to the new locations is a little farther for some (one Kitchen Collection employee commutes from Ridgeland), but that's just fine for some of these Tanger refugees.

"It's a beautiful drive out here," said Lane Bryant manager Beck Simms. Simms, of Bluffton, has been enjoying their new location, but is even more excited for the Lane Bryant planned for the renovated Tanger Outlet Center.

"We've seen the plans. It's pretty big."

Excitement for the new location is a common theme amongst the refugees at the mall.

"Our new location is going to be 10 times bigger than this one," said Kaylee Seacrest, a resident of The Gatherings who works at The Children's Place. "It's going to be a lot more up-to-date, and we'll finally get new registers."

The Children's Place has fared well at The Mall at Shelter Cove, but then its position right by the aforementioned indoor play area probably helps.

"A lot of customers followed us here, and we've picked up a few new ones," added Seacrest.

Another store that has benefitted from solid placement within the mall is Kitchen Collection, which occupies the large open space that formerly housed Brookstone.

"I don't mind this mall," said assistant manager Kathryn Riley, who commutes from Savannah to the new store. "On my breaks I can visit other stores and not get wet."

Of course, Riley is still excited for Tanger to re-open, which is estimated to happen April 1. And not just because it would mean a shorter commute and a bigger store for her.